NC Gov Signs HB 972 NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signs HB 972 , which says footage from police body and dash cameras is not public record. Peripherally, the measure also allows government and private organizations to operate programs allowing...
Iowa’s state Supreme Court has upheld that state’s lifetime voting ban for convicted felons. In a 4-3 decision, the court ruled that all felonies are “infamous crimes” warranting permanent disenfranchisement under the state constitution...
Pennsylvania’s General Assembly also passed a budget in the final hours of the fiscal year - sort of. What lawmakers sent to Gov. Tom Wolf (D) was a $31.5 billion general appropriations bill. A plan for how to pay for that spending has yet to be...
Vermont First Lady Katie Hunt is no fan of the media. As the Burlington Free Press reports , Hunt was miffed last year when the press leaked news of their engagement, which the couple had wanted to keep private. She also wasn’t thrilled with the...
CO Redistricting Initiative Stricken from November Ballot The COLORADO Supreme Court has voided an initiative bound for the state’s November ballot (Initiative 132) that would have turned over the job of drawing legislative and congressional...
More Tax Cuts Coming to AR ARKANSAS Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said he’ll likely seek more tax cuts with the state having ended last fiscal year with a $177 million budget surplus. “The sky has not fallen because we had a tax cut, but as expected...
Anyone who pays attention to the Supreme Court of the United States – a.k.a. the SCOTUS – keeps a close eye on SCOTUSblog, the outstanding blog that chronicles the goings on at the nation’s highest court. And then there are those other...
NH Gov Bans Gender Discrimination NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) issued EO 2016-04, which bars discrimination against transgender workers in state government. The policy covers state government employment, administration of state programs, and...
NC Gov Signs HB 242 NORTH CAROLINA Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signs HB 242 , which would allow low performing elementary schools to be placed in a new, charter-operated district pilot program called Achievement School Districts. Under the law the ASD superintendent...
Health in DC The Federal Circuit rules that makers of biosimilar medications must always notify brand-name drug makers six months before unveiling their products on the market. Biosimilar makers had contended that making the notification requirement...
MA Endorses SB 2407 A MASSACHUSETTS joint House-Senate committee endorses SB 2407 , a bill that would bar discrimination against transgender people in places of public accommodation and allow them to use the restroom or locker room facilities that...
Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down a 2013 Texas law requiring doctors and clinics that perform abortions to meet hospital-like standards resulted in the almost immediate effective invalidation of similar laws facing legal challenge...
Assistant secretary of the Colorado Senate John McKay has wanted to be on Jeopardy for as long as he can remember. And as the NCSL Blog reports , after numerous attempts this year his dream came true. But while he didn’t end up the winner, he did...
Business In NJ The NEW JERSEY Supreme Court rules that employers may not terminate or discriminate against workers simply for getting divorced or separated from their spouse. The suit stemmed from the case of an employee who was terminated after revealing...
Citing free speech concerns, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo (D) last month became the first governor to veto a measure to combat so-called revenge porn, the posting online of sexual or nude images without the consent of the person involved. In a statement...
Grass is all the talk around the Washington statehouse these days. Yes, the Evergreen State is one of the handful that have legalized recreational pot use, but we’re not talking about that kind of grass. As Governing magazine reports , groundskeepers...
In a bid to become the nation’s 51st state, the District of Columbia convened a constitutional convention last month. It was the first such meeting of the 21st century - with the last having come when Hawaii sought statehood 66 years ago - and a...
Crime In AR The ARKANSAS Supreme Court upholds the Razorback State’s execution secrecy law, which keeps confidential information about lethal injection drugs and suppliers (WASHINGTON POST). MO Gov Signs HB 1562 MISSOURI Gov. Jay Nixon...
Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) has cut the oil revenue dividend checks the state’s residents have received every year since 1982 - and that reached a record $2,072 per resident last year - to $1,000. That action was one of $1.3 billion in vetoes the...
In the many months since the February death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, High Court observers have pondered the potential impact of his absence and the ongoing vacancy of the seat Senate Republicans refuse to fill. Now the time for pondering...
In a busy wrap to the judicial session (see SNCJ Spotlight in this issue), the Supreme Court unanimously overturned former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell’s 2014 corruption conviction, saying federal prosecutors had used an overly broad interpretation...
Sports fans know that in Texas the Dallas Cowboys are akin to royalty. But that doesn’t mean everyone is okay putting up with the bad behavior of a spoiled prince. As the Dallas Morning News reports , state Sen. Royce West has filed suit against...
California voters will decide on Nov. 8 whether to do away with the death penalty and replace it with the sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Secretary of State Alex Padilla(D)certified last month that enough valid signatures...
Airbnb made an enticing offer to the more than 200 mayors gathered at a panel discussion it hosted at the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting in Indianapolis last month: Let us pay you millions of dollars in hotel taxes. “Read my lips...
Ducey Fires Lobbyists ARIZONA Gov. Doug Ducey (R) issued an executive order ( EO 2016-05 ) last Thursday terminating state contracts with lobbyist firms contracted with various state commissions and boards. The governor’s office said it had verified...